Simon Singh

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Simon Singh
Born	1964 (age 44–45)
Occupation	Author, TV presenter
Spouse(s)	Anita Anand

Simon Lehna Singh, MBE (born 1964) is a British Indian author of Punjabi background, who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner. He is the youngest of three brothers, his eldest brother being Tom Singh, the founder of the UK New Look chain of stores.

His written works include Fermat's Last Theorem (in the United States titled Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem), The Code Book (about cryptography and its history) and Big Bang (about the Big Bang theory and the origins of the universe).

He has also produced documentaries and works for television to accompany his books, is a trustee of NESTA, the National Museum of Science and Industry and co-founded the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme.

In 2008, Singh was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association for criticising their activities in a column in The Guardian.^[1] A backlash to the lawsuit is occurring, with Nature Medicine noting that the case has gathered wide support for Singh from thousands of scientists, journalists and parliamentarians, as well as prompting calls for the reform of libel law.^[2]

[edit] Biography

Singh's parents emigrated from the Punjab in India to Britain in 1950. He grew up in Wellington, Somerset, attending Wellington School, and went on to Imperial College London, where he studied Physics. He was active in the student union, becoming President of the Royal College of Science Union, instigating reforms that alienated many activists. Later he completed a PhD degree in particle physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University and at CERN, Geneva. In 1990 he joined the BBC's Science and Features Department, where he was a producer and director working on programmes such as Tomorrow's World and Horizon.

In 1996, he directed Fermat's Last Theorem, a BAFTA award-winning documentary about the world's most notorious mathematical problem. The film was memorable for its opening shot of a middle-aged mathematician, Andrew Wiles bursting into tears as he recalled the moment when he finally realised how to resolve the fundamental error in his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. The documentary was originally transmitted in October 1997 as an edition of the BBC Horizon series. It was also aired in America as part of the NOVA series. The Proof, as it was re-titled, was nominated for an Emmy Award.

The story of this notorious mathematical problem was also the subject of Singh's first book, Fermat's last theorem. This was the first book about mathematics to become a No 1 bestseller in the UK.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, he began working on his second book, The Code Book, a history of codes and codebreaking. As well as explaining the science of codes and describing the impact of cryptography on history, the book also contends that cryptography is more important today than ever before. The Code Book has resulted in a return to television for him. He presented The Science of Secrecy, a five part series for Channel 4. The stories in the series range from the cipher that sealed the fate of Mary Queen of Scots to the coded Zimmermann Telegram that changed the course of the First World War. Other programmes discuss how two great 19^th century geniuses raced to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs and how modern encryption can guarantee privacy on the Internet. In October 2004, Singh published a book entitled Big Bang, which tells the history of the universe. It is told in his trademark style, by following the remarkable stories of the people who put the pieces together.

In 2003, Singh was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Science, Technology and Engineering in Education and Science Communication.^[3] In the same year he was made Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) by Loughborough University, and in 2005 was given an honorary degree in Mathematics by Southampton University.

Currently, he is involved more in television and radio programmes, including A Further Five Numbers (BBC Radio 4, 2005).

He made headlines in 2005, when he criticised the Katie Melua song "Nine Million Bicycles" for inaccurate lyrics referring to the size of the observable universe, and proposed a correction.^[4] BBC Radio 4's Today programme brought Melua and Singh together in a radio studio where Melua recorded a tongue-in-cheek accurate version of the song that had been written by Singh.^[5] Unfortunately, Singh's correction is not accurate either. Singh proposed a distance of 13.7 billion light-years to the edge of the observable universe instead of 12 billion light-years that appears in the original version of the song. Actually, the distance to the "edge" of the observable universe is much larger (about 46 billion light years) because of the fast expansion of the universe.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Design degree by the University of the West of England "in recognition of Simon Singh’s outstanding contribution to the public understanding of science, in particular in the promotion of science, engineering and mathematics in schools and in the building of links between universities and schools".^[6] This was followed up by his receipt of the Kelvin Medal from the Institute of Physics in 2008, for his achievements in promoting Physics to the general public.^[7] In July 2008, he was also awarded a degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by Royal Holloway, University of London.^[8]

[edit] Chiropractic lawsuit

Simon Singh has been supported by the charity Sense About Science, which has published this button in his favour.^[9]

On 19 April 2008, Singh wrote an article in the The Guardian.^[10][11] which resulted in him being sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association. The suit is ongoing, with Singh stating that he will "contest the action vigorously... There is an important issue of freedom of speech at stake."^[1]

The article developed the theme of the recently published book by Singh and Edzard Ernst, Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial, and made various statements about the usefulness of chiropractic "for such problems as ear infections and infant colic":

"You might think that modern chiropractors restrict themselves to treating back problems, but in fact they still possess some quite wacky ideas. The fundamentalists argue that they can cure anything. And even the more moderate chiropractors have ideas above their station. The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot of evidence. This organisation is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments."^[10]

On Thursday 7 May 2009, a preliminary hearing took place at the Royal Courts of Justice in front of Justice David Eady. The judge held that merely using the phrase "happily promotes bogus treatments" meant that he was stating, as a matter of fact, that the British Chiropractic Association was being consciously dishonest in promoting chiropractic for treating the children's ailments in question. Singh has denied he intended any such meaning and that such an interpretation makes it very difficult for him to fight his case in court as he had planned: "If we go to trial it's almost impossible for me to defend the article, because it's something I never meant in the first place."^[12]

Despite an offer made on 13 May 2009 by The Guardian to pay the BCA's legal costs in an out-of-court settlement if Singh chose not to appeal,^[12] Singh's campaign team announced via its Facebook group on 4 June 2009^{[citation needed]} that Singh had resolved to make an appeal against Justice Eady's ruling. This decision raises substantially the potential financial liability that Singh may face personally if he loses the case.

Some commentators have suggested this ruling could set a precedent to restrict freedom of speech to criticise alternative medicine.^[13][14] An editorial in Nature commented on the case, and suggested that the BCA may be trying to suppress debate and that this use of British libel law is a burden on the right to freedom of expression, which is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.^[15]

The Wall Street Journal Europe has cited the case as an example of how British libel law "chills free speech", commenting that:

"Mr. Singh is unlikely to be the last victim of Britain's libel laws. Settling scientific and political disputes through lawsuits, though, runs counter the very principles that have made Western progress possible. 'The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error,' Bertolt Brecht wrote in The Life of Galileo... It is time British politicians restrain the law so that wisdom prevails in the land, and not errors.'... the U.S. Congress is considering a bill that would make British libel judgments unenforceable in the U.S."^[16]

The charity Sense About Science has launched a campaign^[9] to draw attention to the case. They have issued a statement entitled "The law has no place in scientific disputes",^[17] which has been signed by myriad individuals representing science, journalism, publishing, arts, humanities, entertainment, skeptics, campaign groups and law. As of June 19, 2009, over 12,000 have signed.^[9] Many press sources have covered the issue.^[18]

The publicity produced by the libel action has led to complaints of false advertising being made against several chiropractors,^[19] prompting one UK Chiropractic association to write to its members advising them to remove leaflets that make claims about whiplash and colic from their practice, to be wary of new patients and telephone inquiries, and telling their members "If you have a website, take it down NOW."^[20]

[edit] Bibliography

• Singh, Simon (1997). Fermat's Last Theorem. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-85702-669-1. 
• Singh, Simon (1998). Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem. Anchor. ISBN 0-385-49362-2. 
• Singh, Simon (2000). The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. Anchor. ISBN 0-385-49532-3. 
• Singh, Simon (2005). Big Bang: The Origin Of The Universe. Fourth Estate. ISBN 0-00-716220-0. 
• Singh, Simon; Ernst, Edzard (2008). Trick Or Treatment?: Alternative Medicine on Trial. Transworld. ISBN 978-0593061299. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Biographical

• Simon Singh's official website
• Dr Simon Singh biography from NESTA

[edit] Radio shows

• Simon Singh: The five most important numbers in mathematics
• Simon Singh: Another five numbers
• Simon Singh: A further five numbers

[edit] Other

• Theatre of Science, Simon Singh and Richard Wiseman funded by NESTA
• Undergraduate Ambassadors' Scheme, co-founded by Simon Singh
• Simon Singh: No miracle cure for junk science
• Beware the spinal trap - The Guardian, 19 April 2008. Private mirror by Svetlana Pertsovich of original article.
• The British Chiropractic Association web site.
• Archive of Happy Families, a PDF brochure removed (Happy Families) by the BCA from their web site. This brochure claims that chiropractic procedures can effectively treat such ailments as asthma, ear infections and baby colic, which claims Dr. Singh took issue with in the now-censored article. This archive will be refreshed often, if the BCA has it quashed.
• Report of the libel suit which the BCA has brought against Simon Singh, by legal commentator Jack of Kent. This report is drawn from the Statement of case filed by the BCA at the British High Court of Justice.
• In lieu of any press release or public statement by the BCA in this matter, Ten Questions that BCA Members Should Now Be Asking, an analysis of the legal and practical position that BCA members are in as a result of this lawsuit, by Jack of Kent.
• Chiropractors Try to Silence Simon Singh: excerpts of original article (now here) with commentary and links to further discussions.